Motril Cruise Port

Motril, Spain

The Spanish cruise port of Motril is a port that disappoints twice as some cruise lines bill it as Granada, which is around 1-1.5 hours away but even if it is called as Motril, you are not really at that town either.

From where you dock to the centre of the town is around a 4.5km walk, which takes around an hour at best to walk.

On the plus side, there is a small seaside community at the port with some beaches, some shops, a few bars and more but they are all mostly for locals and not aimed at the tourist trade.

If you want to visit the incredible city of Granada, it is a must visit port but aside from that, it is perhaps one to miss out on a Mediterranean adventure.

Cruises To Motril

Our Visit

We visited the port of Motril in October 2023 onboard the Norwegian Prima cruise ship on a repositioning cruise from Southampton to Barcelona.

We wouldn’t spend to much time in Motril itself however as we would have a coach excursion to the nearby city of Granada.

Granada itself is an incredible place to visit as not only can you visit the beautiful Palaces of Alhambra and their impressive gardens, but the city itself is well worth exploring.

Its old town is still built around the historic Islamic layout that is so prevalent in historic towns and cities across southern Spain and gives a much more authentic experience of visiting the country when compared to the other places designed and built around tourism.

We did get to see some of Motril itself whilst driving through it and the best way to sum up our feeling is that we are not in too much of a rush to go back there.

Motril Cruise Guide

This guide brings you all that you need to know about visiting the cruise port of Motril in Spain, including where you will dock, what there is to do in the port and where you can head out on excursion to.

This guide is based on our own experience of visiting the port and on the research, we did before visiting there.

If you have already booked a cruise to the port, this guide should help you to make the most of your time onshore whilst if you are still researching cruise of the Med and want to know if a stop at Motril is right for you or not, this guide should help you decide.

Type of Cruises Available

There are three main types of cruises available to those wanting to visit the port including a Fly Cruise, a No Fly Cruise and a Repositioning Cruise.

If you want to spend more time in the region and have the chance to have a land-based holiday before or after your cruise, you can fly to a leading turnaround port in the region, such as Barcelona, Palma or Civitavecchia and start your adventure there.

You can then stay in those cities before or after your cruise holiday to explore those great places as well.

Another option is to take a round trip from the UK that sails down the Mediterranean and calls into the port before returning back to the UK.

These usually take around 2 weeks and are offered by a variety of lines, although Motril is one of the least visited cruise ports in the Western Mediterranean.

The final option is do due a cruise similar to the one that we did when we visited the port and that is to take a repositioning cruise that calls into the port.

There are a few options for doing that, with most sailing between Northern Europe and the Med, with ports such as Southampton, Barcelona, Lisbon and Civitavecchia offering the most options.

At the start and end of the European cruising season, around April and October, there can be some transatlantic journeys that call into the port as well.

Motril Cruise Port Location

The port is located on a long a narrow harbour wall on the southside of the small Puerto Motril that is more commonly used as a ferry port.

You are around a 15-minute walk from a beach and the small area of Playa Granada and around an hour walk from the town of Motril itself.

There is little to do around the port itself and most will head off on excursion.

Motril Cruise Facilities

As a barely used cruse port of call, there are no facilities at the port and it is quite a walk to get to the nearest shops, and even then, they are limited.

Motril Attractions

Motril is not a tourist town but there are a few things of interest for those who want to make the long walk there from the ship.

There are a couple of beaches close to the port entrance and a promenade running behind them for those wanting to just take a walk with sea views.

There is a small marina near to the ferry terminal and a couple of café bars close to the port.

In the town itself, around an hour walk from your ship, there are some small churches, a park and some museums and interactive experiences based on the towns sugar cane industry.

Motril Shorex

The main reason for most visiting the port is to take a shore excursion to Granada, an historic city around and hour or so to the north of the port which is home to the world-famous Palaces of Alhambra.

Due to the popular of Alhambra, you need to pre-book your entry time but if you can’t get in, the city is well worth exploring itself.

It offers an authentic southern Spain experience complete with many Moorish buildings that are well worth heading to the Islamic old town to see.

Best Time To Visit Motril

Motril is one of the learnt visited cruise ports in the Western Mediterranean, so in many ways it is probably best to visit whenever you can do.

The first ships tend to visit the port in March and the main season runs through to October although ships can call in their all year around.

As many are likely to either walk around the town or port area or head to Granada, we would recommend visiting either early in the season, between March-May or later on, between September to November as it can often be just too hot to be comfortable during the summer.

If you head up to Granada, which is up in the hills, the temperature can often be higher than 40 degrees in the summer.

Transport

There is a bus service between to the port area and the town of Motril, but that will still need around a 15-20 minute along the harbour walk and to the main road near the port.

Motril Cruises From UK

If you want to visit the port from the UK, you can do as a number of repositioning and round trip itineraries call into Motril from ports around the UK.

Motril Cruises From Southampton

The port of Southampton offers the widest range of itineraries, ships and lines sailing from England to Motril.